When RZA learned that Rihanna and A$AP Rocky had named their first kid after him, he has been candid about his feelings.
Back in May, DailyMail.com exclusively disclosed that the 35-year-old singer and the 34-year-old rapper, who reside in Harlem, had named their son after the Wu-Tang Clan member.
The 54-year-old rapper and director, whose real name is Robert Fitzgerald Diggs, has now responded to the couple’s decision to name their baby RZA Athelston Mayers.
RZA recently stated to CNN, “RZA is a title, not just a name.”
Thus, I salute her, A$AP, and their family and say it’s an honor. From me, all the gifts in the world.
A copy of the young child’s certificate of live birth, which was obtained by DailyMail.com exclusively back in May, revealed his name is RZA Athelston Mayers.
The infant is said to have been called in memory of RZA, an American rapper and producer who founded the Wu-Tang Clan, an American hip-hop group, on Staten Island in 1992.
Since giving birth, Rihanna has made several references to the name by donning apparel that supports the Wu-Tang Clan, which includes RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and the late Ol’ Dirty.
Notably, RZA was given his father’s middle name, Athelston, according to the certificate of live birth.
That being said, a few of sources have previously recorded Rocky’s middle name as ‘Athelaston.’
The English masculine name Athelstan means “noble stone.”
It comes from the Old English words for “noble” and “stone,” aeáele and stān, respectively. Athelstan is closely associated with Anglo-Saxon nobility; the first English king was also known by this noble title.
Additionally, the certificate of live birth states that RZA was born in Los Angeles at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
One of Rihanna’s most recent clues regarding the identity of her son came on April 5, when she was spotted leaving a restaurant at Giorgio Baldi in Santa Monica with the happy child in tow and a baggy black Wu-Tang Clan top on.
On August 12, 2018, about three months after giving baby, the Umbrella singer went out in New York City sporting a loose white RZA T-shirt. She wasn’t exactly subtle about it.
It’s unclear to what degree Rihanna is a fan of RZA and the Wu-Tang Clan members.
However, Rocky, her spouse, is undoubtedly a fan because he previously worked with Raekwon from the rap trio on the song Fly International Luxurious Art (2015).
Whether they are performing together or as individual artists and producers, Wu-Tang Clan is one of the most recognizable rap ensembles of all time.
The most well-known member is RZA, real name Robert Fitzgerald Diggs, who has produced the majority of the group’s albums as well as those of its individual members. He’s put out solo albums under the moniker Bobby Digital.
Rocky’s collective, A$AP Mob, has likewise drawn comparisons to the storied hip-hop group from its inception.
Similar to Wu-Tang, the group consists of a few prominent core members and a few less visible supporting cast members.
RZA nearly had a chance to work with Rihanna, but it was on film rather than in a studio.
In 2008, the rapper expressed his desire to reshoot the 1985 kung-fu comedy The Last Dragon, starring Rihanna, for Paramount Global, which is currently closing down MTV News after 36 years of operation.
Like with the first movie, she would have been a singer and host of a video show.
“That’s the singer I’m cheering for,” he remarked, referring to the Barbados-born singer. “We’re sticking with the idea of the girl working in music.”
Even though Chris Brown, Rihanna’s ex, had physically assaulted her to the point that she needed hospitalization only a few months prior, RZA then made the extremely offensive suggestion to XXL in 2009 that the two could co-star in the movie.
Samuel L. Jackson had previously been cast for the picture, but it was never made.